Romanian agriculture needs 10bn euros' worth of tractors

In order to reach the European average in terms of concentration of tractors, the Romanian market should "absorb" 30,000 units per year for more than a decade. However, domestic production amounts to 1,000 units at the most, which is comparable with the daily production of the Dacia car plant in Mioveni.
Whilst in Romania the ratio is one tractor per 54 hectares of farming land, in Germany, for instance, the ratio is one per 9 hectares, 1 to 7 in the Netherlands, and only 1 to 4 in Austria. The EU average is one tractor for 17 hectares, which over three times less than in Romania.
"Hungary also ranks ahead of us in this respect, while Albania is behind, as far as I know. In order to approach the European level, it would take us a few good years with a domestic production of 20,000 tractors, as well as heavy imports," said Adrian Damian, president of the Infratirea Federation of local vehicle manufacturers.
According to the "National Strategy for sustainable development of agriculture and the food industry", and to importers and Romanian-based manufacturers of farming equipment, Romania needs around 300,000 tractors, which are worth around 10 billion euros.
In Romania, after Tractorul Brasov plant closed, there are four tractor manufacturers left. MAT Craiova produces a few hundred units per year, and Egyptian-held Crystal, which bought Tractorul Brasov licences, started production with 600 orders for the Egyptian market. "Overall, those that still produce have 1,000 employees and assemble 1,000 tractors a year," Damian added.
Geda Prodexim manufactures and converts tractors manufactured in Brasov into improved versions, as well as its own models, whilst Chinese company Hoyo has started the construction of a plant in Rasnov, which will have a maximum capacity of 20,000 units per year.
"If we had invested in the Tractorul plant in Brasov, we would have had 300-400-horsepower high performance tractors, we would have gotten engines from abroad and produced at lower costs. Without high performance tractors, one cannot achieve the targeted yield and productivity. Agricultural works would be much cheaper," says Culita Tarata, who manages 60,000 hectares of farming land in Insula Mare a Brailei (The Great Braila Island), via TCE 3 Brazi company.